Most of what's happening in Culver City this October takes place on Washington Boulevard. On October 10 the Arts Festival closes the boulevard through the Arts District for one day. On October 24, Spooky Saturday takes over a stretch of West Washington for three hours. Between those two dates, at the corner of Washington and National, a steel frame around a mature Ficus tree starts going up. It's the first piece of public art on this street that has needed a decade, a pandemic delay and more than a million dollars to reach the ground. The festivals pack up by evening. The frame, the stormwater work further down the boulevard and the bike path near National all have end-of-year finish dates.
The Arts District gets the street for a day
The 8th Annual Culver City Arts Festival runs Saturday, October 10. The City lists it from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., with Washington Boulevard closed between La Cienega Avenue and Hutchison Avenue. The festival's own lineup page runs sets from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., so the morning hour is the one to check before you head out. Admission is free. The festival is presented by the Culver City Arts District and the Arts District Residents Association.
The program is built around three stages, each with its own character:
- Hutchinson stage: Cheek to Cheek, Fred Sokolow Jazz Duo, Urth Rhythms, Josh Levy, Erin & Christian Tomita, and Fleece Kawasaki
- Sherbourne stage: a DJ set, Yoga Six Culver City, Rangalee Dance Company, School of Rock, a free salsa lesson, and Los Calicubanos
- McManus stage: Main Street Jam, Double Batch Daddy, The Front Yard, The Mighty Vornados, Top Shelf Brass Band, and Upstream Music
Heidi Duckler Dance is set to perform "Ordena," a roaming piece. Live muralists Mayra Diaz, Daisuke Okmoto, Nicole Sherman, Jen Lavita and Gus Harper will be painting along the route.
The festival hasn't published a list of participating galleries for 2026. For something on the walls that runs past Saturday, K&K Gallery at 8638 Washington Boulevard has "Figure & Form," a multimedia show of figurative art, on view October 3 through November 14. The gallery is also hosting a meet-and-greet with Leticia Lorenzini on festival day. By Sunday morning the booths are gone, the closure is lifted and Washington is a through street again.
The corner that took a decade
About a mile west, the triangle of City-owned land at Washington and National is starting a much slower kind of change. Charles Gaines' "A Frame for a Tree" puts an architectural grid around a mature Ficus. The City calls the piece a signature visual gateway for Culver City. Gaines is a conceptual artist and longtime CalArts professor whose work is in the collections of MoMA, the Whitney and Tate Modern. He has been using trees to explore how mathematical systems and nature interact since the mid-1970s.
The site used to be home to Hal Roach Studios. The City intended the artwork to speak to the corner's past, present and future, and the design incorporates the existing Hal Roach Studios plaque. Across the intersection is Ivy Station, Lowe's 500,000-square-foot mixed-use development next to the Metro E Line, with apartments, a hotel, offices and retail. Gaines designed the frame as a kind of viewfinder that frames the tree differently from the sidewalk, from nearby buildings and from passing trains.
Here's how long the piece has been coming:
- 2016: The Washington/National streetscape plan sets the corner aside for a major gateway artwork.
- 2018: Lowe, for Ivy Station, contributes $300,000 and CLPF/8777 Washington contributes $580,000. With the City's $300,000, the budget comes to $1.18 million.
- 2020: COVID causes major delays. Consultant contracts are later extended for more geotechnical study and design development.
- August 26, 2021: The Art Panel selects Gaines. City Council approves his design on October 24, 2022.
- May 27, 2025: Staff estimate the construction phase at $1,491,472 with contingencies, including a $1,103,884 contract with Ennis Steel.
- September 2026: The original start date slips by several weeks.
- Mid-October 2026: Installation begins. The City estimates about eight weeks of work.
The City's current description puts the frame at roughly 56 by 98 feet, with landscaping, lighting and tree protection built into the design. The project page estimates completion in December 2026. A September 17 report in Culver City Crossroads gave a shorter six-week estimate, so a finish near the end of the year is the safer expectation.
The tree is the reason the design exists in the first place. City Council directed that the healthy, mature Ficus stay as the center of the artwork. Certified Arborist Peter Ashley has been on the project team since Phase 1 and will be on site during structural lifts and foundation work.
For drivers, the City expects no major road closures, only brief slowdowns while equipment is unloaded early in the morning. Once it's finished, low-voltage accent lighting will light the grid and the tree canopy at night, designed to avoid glare for drivers and neighbors.
Other Washington projects due by year's end
The frame isn't the only permanent project on this street with a December deadline. The City lists its Washington Boulevard stormwater and urban runoff project as under construction, with completion expected by the end of 2026. The project plan warns of temporary parking loss and one-way traffic restrictions on Glencoe Avenue while work continues.
The Ballona Creek Bike Path project starts at the same National Boulevard area as the frame. It covers 1.1 miles between National Boulevard and Syd Kronenthal Park on one end and Duquesne Avenue on the other, with permeable paving, ADA improvements, new trees, solar lighting and wayfinding. The City lists construction as finishing in October 2026 and project close-out on December 31, 2026. The page also shows no current closures. A separate proposed extension running northeast toward Cochran Avenue and Venice Boulevard is still in early development, and its cost and funding haven't been determined.
Downtown, a decision with an even later deadline
Further along Washington, the empty office campus at 9050 Washington Blvd is on a slower timeline still. The roughly six-acre property next to the Culver Steps includes three office buildings totaling about 198,000 square feet, plus an underground parking garage. In September the former Sony Pictures Animation campus went to a trustee sale, which the Culver City Observer reported Fortress won.
On October 1, the City Council and the Culver City Public Finance Authority board unanimously approved a purchase option with CF CC Investor LLC. The option gives the Public Finance Authority the right, but not the obligation, to buy the property at a possible price of $103 million, subject to due diligence and an independent appraisal. The authority set aside $375,000 in non-refundable earnest money and up to $500,000 for due diligence studies covering parking, traffic, environmental review and community engagement. The money comes from the Public Finance Authority budget, not the General Fund.
The Public Finance Authority has until February 28, 2027, with limited extensions, to decide whether to buy. The vote approved no purchase, no development project and no development partner. The City says the site could support public parking, recreation, tourism, jobs, new revenue, or affordable or workforce housing. For now those are possibilities, not plans.
The rest of October's events
West Washington gets its afternoon on Saturday, October 24. Spooky Saturday runs from 2 to 5 p.m. between Centinela Avenue and Wade Street. Activity hubs will be at Vintage Faith Foursquare Church, 12668 Washington Boulevard, and the EYRC parking lot at 12524 Washington Boulevard. The free program includes music, crafts, games, trick-or-treating at local businesses and a costume contest at EYRC at 4 p.m. The other dates to save:
- Saturday, October 10, 8 to 11 a.m.: The free rain barrel giveaway at West L.A. College Parking Lot 5, 9000 Overland Avenue, a good stop before the Arts Festival opens.
- Sunday, October 18, 3 p.m.: Music in the Chambers presents the Webern Quartet at City Hall, 9770 Culver Boulevard. Admission is free.
- Sunday, October 25, 4 to 6 p.m.: Downtown Culver City's free Hip and Historic Halloween, with trick-or-treating at downtown businesses and a pet costume contest.
- November 12 to 19: The 12th Asian World Film Festival comes to Culver City.
Wondering what changes at Washington and National, along the Ballona path, or around 9050 Washington could mean for your own block? LA Realty Concierge follows these projects closely and can walk you through what's finished, what's still pending and how buyers are likely to see each one. Schedule Your Concierge Consultation.
